Tuesday Rockpile: Do the Rockies have a shot at signing Roki Sasaki?

Colorado Rockies news and links for Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Anyone who watched the 2023 World Baseball Classic surely found themselves wowed by Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki.

A 100+ mph fastball coupled with a killer splitter (as in one of the best in the world) can do that.

At the time, Sasaki — a pitcher for the Chiba Lotte Marines — was only 21, so he continued to play in the NPB, waiting until he was eligible to be posted. Earlier this month, that happened:

Of being posted, Sasaki said this:

“I can only express my gratitude to the team, who have always listened to me about my future plans to challenge the MLB since I joined the team, and have now officially allowed my posting.

“I will do my best to become the best player in the world who has come up from a minor league contract so that I will have no regrets in my one-time baseball career and live up to the expectations of everyone who has supported me.” (Translation via CNN.)

In addition to his pitch arsenal, Sasaki’s low-cost contract makes him an attractive signing. Remember: According to MLB rules, foreign professionals who are not yet 25 and do not have six years experience must sign as an international amateur. That means that pretty much any team — just not the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets — can afford his contract,

Yes, even the Colorado Rockies.

As Mac Wilcox wrote two weeks ago, the Rockies have not been active in Asia, instead focusing on Latin America. But perhaps that’s about to change.

Thomas Harding reported during in the Winter Meetings that the Rockies had introduced themselves:

But would Sasaki consider coming to perennial non-contender Colorado?

His agent, Joe Wolfe, while not giving anything away, had this to say about his client’s preferences:

“The best I can say is he has paid attention to how teams have done as far as overall success, both this year and in years past . . . . He does watch a lot of Major League Baseball. He’s paid attention to what his [World Baseball Classic] teammates have done. He’s talked to a lot of foreign players that have been on his team in Chiba Lotte.

“He asks a lot of questions — about weather, about comfortability, about pitching development. He’s just watching what other Japanese players in the Major Leagues are doing and how they are doing.”

Then Wolfe added this: “There’s an argument to be made that a small- or mid-market team might be more beneficial for him as a soft landing for him coming from Japan.”

According to Wolfe, Sasaki “has had a tough go of it” in the media due to his desire to be posted. (This article from Jason Coskrey in the Japan Times gives a sense of the criticism Sasaki faced in requesting to be posted at such a young age, in effect “leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table by not waiting two seasons when he could sign an MLB deal” and potentially setting a terrible precedent for other NPB players.)

@CespedesFamilyBBQ posted this on Monday:

The Rockies will have $6.8 million to work with.

Right now, we just have a lot of circumstantial evidence, but let’s game it out.

Can you tell us a bit about this guy?

I can do that. (We’ll get to the arsenal in a minute.)

Born in Rikuzentakata, Japan, in 2001, Roki Sasaki was named after the villain “Rouki” in the Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger television series, according to the folks at Wikipedia.

Here’s a description of Duke Org Rouki: “A werewolf-like Org born from the mass of evil energy contained inside the Dark Mask, the Thousand-Year Evil (千年邪鬼, Sennen Jaki), [who] called himself the most powerful warrior of the Orgs.”

Oh, and he’s got a very cool Crescent Moon Blade.

I don’t know anything about Japanese television, but this sounds amazing — just the kind of name for a young pitcher who would grow up wielding a monster-good fastball.

However, Sasaki came to know tragedy early. In 2011, when he was in the third grade, the Fukushima Earthquake occurred off the Oshika Peninsula, leading to a tsunami that devastated that part of Japan and swept away the Sasaki home. Roki’s father and grandparents were killed, and he, his mother, and two brothers lived in a nursing home during the recovery. They moved to Ōfunato the next year where Sasaki began playing baseball.

Although recruited by other high schools, Sasaki decided to stay with his teammates in Ōfunato, and his 101 mph fastball broke the high school record set by Shohei Ohtani.

His nickname at the time? The Monster of the Reiwa Era.

In 2019, he entered the Nippon Professional Baseball draft and was selected first by the Chiba Lotte Marines. Sasaki made his professional debut on May 16, 2021.

His career has been amazing, right?

Oh, indeed.

In 2024, Sasaki earned a 2.35 ERA over 111 innings with 129 strikeouts, 32 walks, and gave up only two home runs.

But consider this: Over the course of his four-year career with the Marines, Sasaki has earned a 2.10 ERA and racked up 505 strikeouts and just 88 walks in 394⅔ innings. That’s 11.4 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, and 6.0 H/9.

The highlights are many. In 2022, he pitched a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes — only the 16th perfect game in NPB history — and he threw eight perfect innings in his next start. He tied Koji Noda’s NPB record for total strikeouts in one game — 19. And he set a new record for consecutive strikeouts with 13. (Prior to that, the world record was 10, held by Corbin Burns, Tom Seaver, and Aaron Nola.)

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Can you tell us about the arsenal?

Sure.

The righty is listed as 6’3” and 203 lbs., and he has a three-quarter delivery.

His arsenal includes a four-seam fastball (an average of 95-99 mph, 13.8” of horizontal break), a splitter (91.2 mph, 35.5” of vertical break), and a slider (88.2 mph, 10.7” of horizontal break).

Yeah, he’s good.

Is this happening?

Sasaki finds himself in a curious position: He could go to any team he chooses because team balance sheets do not matter. The question, then, becomes where that is.

Go back to Wolfe’s statement: Sasaki is looking for a comfortable location, a good climate, and an organization with effective pitch development. He’s also been talking with other Japanese players about their experiences.

Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images

By this measure, the Rockies have some significant disadvantages: They are not especially good at pitch development, they do not having a winning record, and they have not, historically, rostered many players from Asia.

However, Wolfe’s statement about the suitability of a small- or mid-market team may work in their favor. Moreover, Denver media tends to be a friendly bunch.

For those assuming the Dodgers have an advantage, consider the extensive media that follows Shohei Ohtani everywhere. When the Dodgers played at Coors Field the final weekend of the season, the press box was jammed with overflow media seated in the cafeteria — and that was in the away press box. Dave Roberts’ media briefings are crowded, and every move Ohtani makes is scrutinized. If Sasaki is looking to get away from a substantial media presence, the Dodgers are probably not his best choice.

On Bluesky last week, there were suggestions of the San Diego Padres — Sasaki is friends with Yu Darvish — the Cleveland Guardians, or perhaps the Kansas City Royals. I could see that happening.

What is difficult to see, however, is Coors Field getting its own Monster of the Rockpile — though that would be very, very cool.

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They’ve earned it

Last week, three Colorado Rockies were awarded bonus money.

Read more here.

Given the Gold Glove innings Tovar and Doyle logged in 2024, both earned every penny.

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Notable signings

Yesterday, the Rockies signed Jefry Yan.

Check out the post-K enthusiasm:

That Rockies bullpen is looking better all the time.

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Roki Sasaki to the Rockies: A Letter to Mr. Monfort and Company | Blake Street Banter

Our friends over at Blake Street Banter make the case to the Rockies front office.

Thairo Estrada joins the Colorado Rockies | McCovey Chronicles

I thought it might be interesting to see what McCovey Chronicles, SB Nation’s San Francisco Giants site, had to say about Estrada’s contributions and why he was let go.

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